Red-hot Garhwal follows 263 with 196

While teams in the four other zones had started competing in their respective zonal leagues for the Vinoo Mankad Trophy (Under-19) one-day tournament, Rajasthan's players were a nervous lot. With the Rajasthan Cricket Association involved in a bitter court battle with the BCCI, all the players could do was hope they would be able to showcase their talent.

Aditya Garhwal was one of them. Once the central zone one-dayers, which had been postponed due to the delay in the decision over Rajasthan, got underway in Noida, Garhwal was a man with a mission. Last year, leading Rajasthan's Under-19 side in the same competition, Garhwal had failed quite spectacularly with the bat, scoring 60 runs in five innings with a highest score of 16. He wanted to set things right this time around.

If his unbeaten 151-ball 263 against Railways on Tuesday wasn't enough to prove his credentials, Garhwal smashed 196 off 137 balls against Madhya Pradesh. His dominance over both opposition attacks left the Rajasthan XI Under-19 coach Sharad Joshi awestruck.

"It was total domination," Joshi told ESPNcricinfo. "He played virtually every shot in the book in both the innings. Not only did he find gaps and clear fields at will, it was equally impressive that he ran between the wickets very well. Except for the reverse-sweep, he hit a six with every other shot in the book."

Garhwal said he had a point to prove to his friends and teammates. "Last year, some of my friends had started teasing me that I was only a days' cricket batsman and not a one-day batsman, so I was determined to prove them wrong."

Asked to talk about his batting in the two innings, Garhwal simply said he was focussed on "not playing a rash shot". He only showed excitement when he heard that Virender Sehwag had reacted to his unbeaten 263 on Twitter.

rajasthan under 19 player aditya garhwal hits 263 no just 151b 22/4& 18/6 against railway in the vinoo mankad central zone cricket.. wow

— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) October 21, 2014

"Wow! I never knew that," Garhwal said. "It is so nice to know that your idol has praised you so early in your career. I just hope I can continue in the same vein."

Garhwal, the son of an engineer and a professor, is based in Sikar, a district town roughly three hours from Jaipur by road. Like a lot of small-town cricketers, he had no formal coaching, primarily because of lack of infrastructure in his hometown. Five years ago, his parents laid two cement pitches, covered with matting, near their house. Aditya batted on them for hours - "as long as there was someone to bowl at me", trying to emulate the strokes he watched his heroes play on television.

Garhwal has already played List A and Twenty20 cricket for Rajasthan, and a first-class debut is surely on the cards if he continues to score runs at the rate he is doing. Regardless, he has no plans of shifting to Jaipur. "I will keep travelling to Jaipur for camps and matches," he says. "Otherwise, home is where the heart is."